The US Open Still Matters — Just Not at the Top of the Game

The US Open still fills its courts. It just no longer fills its draw. More than 3,500 players took part in Naples for the tournament’s 10th edition, reinforcing its place as one of pickleball’s biggest weeks. But without most of the sport’s top contracted professionals, its place in the elite game now looks very different.

The US Open again drew huge participation numbers, with 3,500 players competing across 65 courts in Naples
Most PPA-contracted professionals were absent, limiting the event’s status as a true top-level pro stop
The tournament remains one of pickleball’s biggest amateur occasions, but no longer one of its defining professional stages

The size is still there

Held at the USOP National Pickleball Centre in Naples, Florida, the tournament once again delivered on scale. The site was busy throughout the week, and the event still carried the atmosphere that has long made it one of the sport’s landmark gatherings.

That part has not changed.

At amateur level, the US Open remains one of the most desirable weeks on the calendar. It is a tournament people still plan around, travel for, and measure themselves against.

At professional level, though, the picture is no longer the same.

The draw tells the story

Exclusivity agreements tied to the PPA Tour meant that most contracted players were not in the field. A small number of exceptions were made, most notably for Anna Leigh Waters and Jay Devilliers, who entered mixed doubles and produced one of the matches of the week.

Waters and Devilliers saved a flood of match points before edging Casey Diamond and Sofia Sewing 12-10, 2-11, 11-9 in the final. It was dramatic, messy, and compelling, the sort of match that reminded everyone what this event can still produce.

Elsewhere, Dusty Boyer won the men’s singles title, while Kat Stewart took the women’s singles crown.

The matches held up. The absence around them was harder to ignore.

That is now the central tension at the US Open. The tournament still has scale, energy, and history. What it no longer has is the deepest possible professional field.

If you’re following how the global game is shifting week by week, the World Pickleball Report breaks this down every Wednesday.

A tournament caught between what it was and what the sport has become

The US Open once sat much closer to the centre of the professional game. That position has shifted as the PPA Tour schedule has become stronger, richer, and more tightly controlled.

Recent events, including the Sacramento Open, have underlined where the sport’s deepest fields now sit. Prize money is higher. The concentration of top players is stronger. The sense of where the real top end lives is much clearer.

In Naples, that gap was visible without needing to be announced. You could feel it in the draw itself.

This does not mean the US Open has become irrelevant. It means its relevance has changed. It is no longer the week that best settles the question of who owns the top of the sport.

What still works, and what does not

What the US Open has not lost is demand. Courts remain full, entries remain high, and for thousands of players this is still the week that matters most.

That matters. It should not be dismissed just because the professional landscape has fractured.

But professional pickleball is now shaped by contracts, tour alignment, and broadcast value as much as by tradition. In that environment, access to the full player pool matters more than legacy alone.

There are signs that the current divide may not be permanent. Franklin Sports, now the event’s title sponsor, has suggested future discussions could help reopen the door for more PPA-contracted players. Whether that happens will go a long way towards deciding what this tournament becomes next.

For official tournament information and event history, the US Open Pickleball Championships remains the clearest reference point.

Still one of the biggest weeks, but no longer the one that decides things

The US Open has not lost its crowd, its identity, or its pull. It still brings together thousands of players. It still feels big. It still matters.

What it no longer feels like is the final word on the professional game.

It is still one of pickleball’s biggest weeks. It is no longer the week that decides it.

For a clearer view of where the sport is heading each week, you can join the World Pickleball Report here.